a trip to the supermarket gone wrong
by Shirleycakes
Summary: A short little story in which Athena is partially at fault for Thalia's fear of heights, thats the first chapter anyways. This is really about Athena's unintentional involvement shaping the lives of pjo characters or her being an unfortunate bystander in all this.
1. Chapter 1

(I had this cute little daydream in english class and couldn't stop thinking about it which is why I never ever have a clue what my math or english hw is about orz)

Athena was at a local supermarket store trying to coax a stubborn old coiled Chinese dragon off the stores lamppost. After 5 minutes of shoppers going around her the dragon finally slithered down and she gave a grateful sigh, until she felt a cart slam into her back and calf. Her grey eyes narrowed dangerously but she softened them up knowing how uncomfortable they made mortals. She turned around to stare at a beautiful, tall, blond woman who could be compared to a model, tapping her foot impatiently.

"You're in the middle of the way!" she growled out and Athena couldn't stop her eyebrow from twitching.

"My bad." She really was in the middle of the way. Behind her the dragon grunted getting her attention. A small young child with dark black hair was climbing the dragon using his green scales to get up. She giggled happily once she was seated on top and the dragon gave Athena a look that said get this tiny human off of me.

"hey, hey kid you can't" she was interrupted by the woman's hand gripping her shoulder and Athena's body became rigid, left hand clenching.

"That's my daughter! If she wants to ride the machine she can." The mist had a way at disorienting things making mortals blind to the truth. Athena bit her bottom lip remembering to be understanding at their disability.

"Look I'm trying to be nice but if you don't let go." She stopped herself inspecting the girl with the familiar bright blue eyes closer. She stared at the grinning toddler then at the mom then back at the toddler. An imaginary white bunny popped above her head walking, dots trailing behind it.

"Wait a minute I know you." Her eyes widened when she saw Thalia shove a quarter down the dragons' ear.

"No!" she yelled as the dragon roared, rising on its short hind legs like a horse and Thalia gripped his hair trying not to fall. She leapt towards them arms catching nothing but air and her body landing on hard cement. Thalia screamed, hundreds of feet in the sky. She got up and shot to the sky in the form of lightning. She was about to catch them when Thalia pulled hard on its hair like a reindeer. They spiraled down the dragon roaring in pain. Athena back into herself suspended in the sky where they had been, cursed and turned back into red lightning going quickly down. They landed in the parking lot at the same time Athena crouched like a ninja. They dragon started to slam into old cars trying to shake the wailing girl off, Athena running behind them.

"Thalia let go!" Athena shouted running over several cars. Thalia either couldn't hear her over the wind, the sound of breaking metal, the growling of the dragon, or because Thalia was paralyzed with fear unable to do nothing but to cling to life. They were nearing the lake next to the store and the dragon was starting to rise toward the sky again. Athena using a car for leverage jumped on its back just as Thalia lost her hold and slipped falling. But Athena got her, the momentum to strong, all she could do was arch in a way that didn't hurt Thalia once they hit the water. They came up coughing out water, Thalia disoriented and crying.

"Water. Why is it always water." Athena said annoyed and was about to scold Thalia when she gave her this terrified face latching her arms around Athena's neck afraid to drown and began sniffing.

"Hey calm down. Its alright now." she said softly trying to calm her young half-sister. She swam back to the ground with a bit of difficulty because Thalia refused to shift from her place. She was relieved when her feet touched sand and rose, waist down still underwater. Thalia gave a sharp cry and Athena looked back to see the Chinese dragon looking at them expectantly, shaking its head in discomfort. Athena moved Thalia to her hip and managed to get the quarter out of its ear. Thalia was pale staring at the dragon like it was a rabid dog about to pounce and bite.

"Thalia you stuck a quarter in its ear. He's waiting for you to apologize because that bothered him." Athena said patiently. The dragon gave its most injured look and Thalia looked at him before guilty muttering "sorry." He snorted accepting it and just for good measure Athena patted the dragon to show how harmless he was. Once they were on land Athena summoned a towel, setting Thalia down and wrapped it around the shivering child. The dragon the size of a refrigerator shrunk to the size of a small snake and went up, wrapping itself to Athena's neck like a scarf. Lifting Thalia up again she walked back to the front doors of the store to the frozen gaping mother.

"Now who's blocking the way?" Athena said teasingly, trying to snap the mother back. Thalia opened her arms to her mom seeking comfort but the women didn't move.

" Who are you?" she whispered eyes wide then excitedly added " are you like Zeus?"

" Athena his daughter." she answered and took a step closer to signal that Thalia was still waiting for her mother to carry her. Beryl did but she did it without any grace like she wasn't used to carrying Thalia.

"He sent you didn't he? To tell me he's going to leave Hera and finally be with me." she said gleefully almost jumping in her heels.

" You misunderstood I'm just here to get my friend's pet dragon. The fact that we both met here is mere coincidence." she didn't apologize when Beryl's face fell, she didn't want the mortal to live disillusioned at the prospect of Zeus ever divorcing Hera. Even if he did, staying loyal to one woman wasn't Zeus' style. No point in giving the woman false hope.

"You'll tell him won't you about how I'm still waiting for him and how Thalia wants to see him again." Beryl said, her blue eyes desperate. Athena felt pity never liking how women always desired the love of a man to feel complete in their lives and how her father always abandoned the women he slept with. She kept her mouth shut and decided it was time to go when the mortals started to give them dirty glares. The disguised dragon stretched licking Thalia on the cheek much to Beryls bewilderment.

"He saying goodbye." Athena told Thalia who only waved back.

"Look after her." Athena reminded her; the life of a child of Zeus was definitely not an easy one. She walked away and disappeared in a puff of smoke.


	2. Athena and the Jackson's

(Since someone who reviewed seemed to like Thalia's story and asked for more, I said what the heck why not. I wanted to do it about the sevens fear but theirs isn't as easy as Thalia's so I had to be creative and decided to do it on Athena and them being in the wrong place in the wrong time. I was going start with Percy since so many people love Percy like crazy but the more I imagined his story the more Sally became important. Except I didn't know much about her so I googled her info and loved her families tragic ending. Sally deserves more fan fiction. I hope I did it some justice.)

When Poseidon had told Athena who Percy's mother was an old memory came to the front of her mind. She was surprised and felt slightly guilty recalling the memory so many years later. Athena had been travelled from Canada to New York. She had been extremely late to her flight and the packed airport didn't help her progress; it was the Christmas season and everyone was in a rush. She had gotten there a second before they closed the gates. The women smiled politely and took her ticket, closing the gate behind her. She found her seat, the window seat, and had to pass a married couple to get there.

"Excuse me." She said before sitting at her seat.

"No problem. Wish they made airplanes less cramped." The man was young with dark brown hair and chocolate eyes, he had a warm smile and Athena knew that she had gotten a good seat. The woman was very pretty; she was wearing snug clothes, and had charming blue eyes that Athena expected could change color when a degree of light hit it. These were the types of optimistic people who loved to encourage others and give genuine hugs but because Athena didn't like being touched she gave them her hand obviously trying to tell them what kind of person she was. The woman blinked before giving a pleasant laugh and shook Athena's hand. The man copied his wife; his hand was warm and soft.

"Quite a grip." He said impressed.

"Thank you. You two are Americans?" Athena said. There were two types of people in the world; those who were friendly and spoke to you in planes and those who wanted you to mind your own business. Athena suspected them to be the former and kindness deserved to be paid back with more kindness.

"Yeah we just came back from a project in our college. Canada was beautiful, I just loved the wilderness, wished we didn't have to leave earlier." Athena was going to ask why they had come back earlier than they originally planned but the woman seemed to sense the question and answered.

"We have a little girl, her name's Sally I wished she could have gone with us but we left her with my brother-in-law, we want to surprise her the eve of Christmas. They adore each other so we were able to leave knowing she was in good hands. He said he was going to teach her how to bake a cake isn't that cute." Athena smiled feeling a twinge of jealousy, wishing she could spend Christmas with her own kids.

"Are you going to meet family?" the man asked.

"No, I'm spending it with two friends of mine." Athena only went to her families Christmas party if Hera was forcing her to go.

"Friends can become closer than family." The man nodded understandingly.

"I've known these two friends for a long time."

The plane was starting to lift and the mortals grinned excitedly. Athena gave a small smile, flying was a wonderful thing that in the past only birds and gods could do, but now mortals could partake in it too. She held back a yawn, tired but the woman must have seen her eyes drop because she patted her arm.

"Why don't you take a short nap and well wake you one we're there." Athena gave her a grateful smile. She normally didn't put her guard down, her body could sense an approaching storm, but it was a lullaby to her and her body couldn't help but start relaxing.

"Oh, what your name for when I wake you up?" she asked and Athena yawned not hiding it anymore.

"Athena. My name is Athena."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Laura and this is my husband Jim, were the Jackson's." Athena laughed and Jim smiled broadly.

"Sounds like something you'd here in a movie huh." He said.

"Yes." Athena admitted before letting the darkness swallow her in.

She just narrowly avoided having her head cut off. She had been sleeping blissfully when alarms rang in her head and instinct acted first. She jumped to the seats behind her, quickly shaking off sleep. She absorbed what was happening in less than a second. First, the plane was starting to tilt down. Second, the lights were flickering off and on, and lightning was flashing outside with rain hitting the plane hard. Third, she had landed on a dead body and everyone else was either dead or cowering in fear. Lastly, the vicious werewolf clan she thought she had obliterated back in Canada had a surviving member, launching itself at her again.

She dodged and the wolf followed snapping its jaw near her face. Fighting wasn't easy in such a small space but Athena managed after summoning aegis and slamming the dogs face repeatedly with it. The wolf was seeing stars when the plane was really going down fast and Athena held to the plane seats hearing people screaming. She was making her way to the pilot, knowing he was probably dead; to her mistake she hadn't hit the wolf hard enough. He got up but knew when he was beat so summoning all his strength, he clawed the plane in half and the plane for a second resembled the titanic. Athena lost her grip and spiraled away from the plane disoriented before taking control of the wind again. It had all happened to fast and as soon as she looked down she cringed seeing the wreckage of the plane.

It had been sometime since she thought of the accident; the mortals were never able to find the cause of the accident and she hadn't ever given a single thought about the young couple, gods tended to forget easily. She couldn't just come out and tell Sally it was her fault her parents were dead.

"Perhaps it is better if she never finds out." Athena mumbled to herself. So Sally went with all her days happily unaware of why her parents had died and continued to be distrustful of planes.

( I don't want to do it on the seven only, there are a bunch of characters that deserve the lime light. Give me your thoughts. Cant think of a good title and summary orz.)


	3. Gabe's odyssey

A/N: translations will be provided in the bottom for those who don't know Spanish. I was going to do a Percy Jackson story I promise and started it and everything but Gabe was there and I didn't know much about him so I googled him and well… his story just came to life. I don't think he was born a scum from the beginning but his environment made him like that. I had two reasons for making this a) my own entertainment and b) because I hoped I had improved in my writing enough that I gave you the feels and gave Gabe a decent sympathetic audience. This is before the wet foot and dry foot policy. Athena plays a minor role here...what else? Being a Cuban is a big deal here in south Florida because well they have a bad reputation for being evil. Im not Cuban but am constantly surrounded by them in school... some are alright others are just plain annoying but then again some americans are nice and others are mean. Don't you just love it when inspiration hits and the story just clicks.

The half-finished dinghy was the saddest thing Gabe had seen since yesterday where he had to drag his sleeping father home from the bar. He dumped him on the hard dusty floor as soon as they made it home. He wasn't cruel enough to just leave him there with the flies hovering above him. Silent as a thief or alley cat he sneaked into his parent's room and bundled up a white dirty sheet that needed to be washed into his arms. Concern suffocated him like it always did when he entered the dark room and couldn't hear breathing. Quickly he sought out his depressed mother buried under the heavy blanket and only relaxed when he saw the rising of her chest. His hand reached out for the silver bell, something he bought by stealing money from his father in case she by some miracle happened to be hungry or needed anything.

He shut the wooden door and covered his father sprawled on the floor and placed a cup of water near him just in case he woke up with a headache. Hopefully his father wouldn't be in a bad mood and take it out on him because Gabe knew no superman would come to save him. In any case he left the haunted house that held captive his drunken father and his dejected sleeping mother. He went to find his long term friend's house hoping to smoke some tobacco to ease his worries and saw him just as Ricky was leaving.

"Hoye loco donde vas?" he shouted. Ricky tensed and looked nervous for a second before he gave Gabe a friendly smile.

"A la calle tonto!" Gabe was trying to catch up and match Ricky's pace but his friend's panicked face made him falter for a second.

"Queres compania?" he asked. Ricky fidgeted and stared at Gabe's shoulder blade.

"Tengo que ser un mandado…" that was the Latino way of coming up with an excuse that didn't leave space for others to pry for more info without feeling nosy.

"Oh... y luego?"

"El dia despues de manana estoy libre . Iremos jugar football." Ricky promised and made a dash to the corner leaving Gabe alone.

Gabe was very curious about his friend's suspicious behavior and mentally noted to investigate about it tomorrow. He bought a pack of cigarettes from another one of his friends and together they smoked and played cards, snacking on sliced pieces of mango. A good afternoon overall and his father only shoved him into the wall once before completely ignoring him for the rest of the day. He made his mom a tortilla with eggs but there wasn't any salt so he put a bit of ketchup for flavor; he'd have to steal some money and go shopping later. Satisfaction ran through him when he picked up the plate later and saw it was half empty. For a second he imagined a world where his mother had enough energy to hug him or even spare him a loving glance but dismissed the idea a second later bitterly laughing underneath his breath.

Gabe went outside and made him-self comfortable on his deteriorating hammock. The stars as always were lucid vibrant, offering the world its light and was a welcoming sight. He asked them if there was an omniscient, aloof, all-powerful being out there (yes his name is Rick Riordan XD) that didn't care how miserable Gabe was; he wasn't expecting a response and he didn't get one. He heard his father leave never jaded of alcohol; his heavy departing steps were Gabe's lullaby. His eyes were closing when he thought he heard faint whispering or perhaps it was just his imagination and the wind. It whispered to him that history and life kept going and that these forces were indifferent to him, that he was a miniscule lowly life form of a person hardly capable of being defined as an individual as long as he stayed on that island.

"You have two choices: stay here and live a barely decent long but boring life or travel to New York and play a role to something bigger." It said in perfect Spanish. Gabe thought he mumbled a reply.

"Who are you?" His voice slurred, sleep was entering him.

"… Some call me fate or the universe or god or everything and nothing. I am energy and am divided into different matter. Some containers are permanent and carry a bigger quantity of me, others live and die in a blink of an eye and transform my energy into other matter. I cannot be created or destroyed. I am nobody and I am everybody. I am also you." It summed up; Gabe was too tired to ask further.

He arose at dawn and quickly made a tortilla and black beans for his mom before running to Ricky's house, the event from the night before, a dream he concluded, evaporated into thin air. He didn't know why and he couldn't explain it but he felt irresistibly compelled to follow Ricky. Ricky left his house early and made it pretty obvious he was checking nobody was outside. Gabe followed him from a distance and was on his tail even when Ricky entered the thickly green forest. He followed a trail for some time and stopped, inspecting a palm tree before turning right. Hounds of mosquitos ate at Gabe and he had to constantly duck behind a bush or a tree.

They made it to a wooden shed hidden in the woods and Ricky went in. Gabe waited for a minute or two before tip toeing inside and that's what he was looking at now; a sad poorly developed half-finished dinghy with a tire beneath it. He knew what this meant and couldn't believe it. Castro was bad and his spies and policies were bad as well but Gabe never thought of abandoning his home. Ricky stood up a second later, a tools box in his arms but dropped it and it clanged loudly on the ground when he spotted Gabe. They stood frozen there, the two friends wide-eyed.

(I'm just going to write in English translating is too much work -.-)

"Gabe what—please don't tell anybody I'll get in trouble they'll put me in prison." Ricky pleaded grasping Gabe by the shoulders.

"Of course I'm not going to tell anybody but are you crazy!"

"There's this place near Cuba called Florida a state in the United States. We're going there it's only a few miles away." Gabe shook his head astonished.

"This is insane." He kept repeating but something ate at him, he felt he had to go. He heard the U.S was the land of the free and dreams. Here he was burdened by his family and poverty. "Let me go with you." He said. Ricky only blinked confused.

"What?" thinking he had misheard.

"I'm going with you." Ricky understood now. If he said no Gabe might go tell someone.

"Fine okay are you sure? It's going to be cramped."

"Yeah I'm sure." Ricky told his uncle when he came and his uncle cursed loudly but didn't harm Gabe but told him to be ready in a moment's notice. Days passed with the same old pattern: cook for his mom, clean and shop, go to school, help out Ricky and his uncle. So many days passed when they finished that it was more like a fun little project for Gabe. That's why when Ricky broke into his house in the dead of the night and vigorously shook him awake Gabe felt unprepared.

"Get up and hurry." Gabe's heart has never gone so fast. Like ninjas they hid in dark corners avoiding people and cars. They didn't go right went they reached the tree Ricky kept on going straight. Gabe didn't have a chance to say goodbye but he doubted his mom would respond anyways. He could hear the beach now and on the shore was the dinghy and Ricky's uncle muttering about how Castro's spies found out, a woman holding a baby saying she needed food for her baby and how long they would be in sea and a young man probably in his late teens with his arms around her.

"Who are they?" he whispered to Ricky.

"They're my uncle's friend. They gave him money to join us and he's expecting you to pay him back once we reach Miami… if we reach Miami." Ricky muttered.

They left as soon as Ricky's uncle saw him and it was a tight fit but they managed. They pedaled furiously to reach open sea and Ricky's uncle gripped tightly the compass and map. Worried faces were plastered on all of them but also determined faces ready to take up the challenge for the new world they sacrificed their old worlds for; a new beginning.

It felt like weeks they've been stuck on this little refuge boat. The sun glared relentlessly and the ocean waves would jump into their cramped boat and make them panic. They were all cracked, starving and dehydrated. The cries of the baby only made Gabe and Ricky's uncle petulant. Another day passed and the baby was silent but alive. Gabe prayed that no storm would hit them and that they were going the right direction. Poseidon must've been in a real bad mood because instead of favorable winds they got a shark.

Nobody noticed at first the murky figure approaching them until a splash was heard and a sharp cry. Gabe couldn't believe it when Ricky arm was torn right off and he fell into the water. Gabe was moving to him before his shocked uncle could and his arms went under trying to grab him. A small pool of red formed where his arms were searching and he felt hair. He dug his fingers into it and then grabbed Ricky's ears and chin. He prayed to himself that he wouldn't pull only a head. He didn't and Ricky gasped in air eyes' searching dumbly everywhere for help but Gabe couldn't pull him out by himself Ricky was too heavy. Ricky uncle came to the rescue grabbing his clothes and together they pulled him inside the boat. Ricky's uncle removed his shirt and tied it to Ricky's missing limb. The shark was still circling them.

Gabe couldn't believe it even if he saw it happen twice but Ricky's uncle ripped the woman's baby from her and threw it at the shark. She screamed and the boy held her tightly glaring at Ricky's uncle with murder in his eyes. He glared right back. Gabe gaped in horror and Ricky was unconscious and bleeding. Nobody slept that night.

Changing P.O.V to Athena and Nike

"I wish we were here to enjoy the view." Athena sighed.

"We could have been doing that a long time ago if you hadn't forgotten where the fountain of youth was." Nike said smiling at the irony.

"Maybe the fountain of youth shouldn't randomly pop to different places every century and Poseidon shouldn't expect me to remember where all the important magical water related places are." Athena said back, "I mean he's the king of the dang ocean not me." Nike had stopped and held her arm out making Athena stop as well. "What?"

"Do you see that?" Nike said squinting at the horizon. Athena saw a dot but focused her enhanced sight a bit more and realized it was a boat.

"Refuges from Cuba." Athena said and Nike nodded summoning her phone.

"Better call the national coast guard."

"Yeah." Athena said agreeing with her and using her power made a powerful wave push the little boat to the shore faster.

"Ever have a Latino kid?" Nike asked.

"No, they're not my type; Hispanics are more interested in work than education." She was the ex-goddess of wisdom not the goddess of physical labor.

There were three adults and once they made it near enough they jumped out and pushed the boat to the sand. Athena and Nike saw a bleeding sleeping boy and another the same age about 12 sitting in a crashed position. Nike told the guard to bring an ambulance as well. Civilian mortals saw the commotion and ran to the boat.

"Hey are you okay?" Athena asked Gabe in Spanish. Gabe only takes a look at his friend and his eyes fills with tears.

"It's okay, you're safe now; nobody's going to hurt you, you're free." Nike's words reach Gabe's heart and he nods, even as he hears the rude comments of the approaching American citizens.

"Ah, more Cubans; Soon enough masses of fleets of reffs will come and take all our jobs!"

"They're good for nothing lazy, obnoxious, lying thieves who sue for every little thing."

"The government should do something! They shouldn't just let them come."

"This boy is bleeding so why don't you all shut up and help." Nike snaps at them narrowing her reddish brown eyes and to the mortals she seemed to grow ten ft. taller. Athena holds her back.

"They're not Americans but they are human beings like you guys and they have been living under dictatorship. Why don't you guys do, not what's the American thing to do but the right thing to do and help." The people were speechless and blushing in shame. The national guard got there and the ambulance and started checking them.

"What's your name?" someone asked Gabe.

"Gabe… Gabe Ugliano." Someone in the back laughed and they all stared at him to see if he was serious... he was.

"Your joking right? Your name is ugly?" someone said in english. Gabe had no idea what they said but guessed it wasn't anything good by the way Athena and Nike glared at the one who spoke.

"These people will take care of you and your friend don't worry." Nike said before she and Athena left.

"Hoye loco donde vas?"- hey crazy where you heading?

"A la calle tonto!"- to the streets idiot!

"Queres compania?"- want some company?

Tengo que ser un mandado- i have an errand to make

Oh... y luego?- oh and later?

El dia despues de manana estoy libre . Iremos jugar football.- Im free the day after tomorrow. we can go play soccer.

A/N: Liked it? Hated it? If you liked it please tell me how I can improve my writing. If you have someone you want me to write about tell me or I'll just do whatever. I already have Percy's story finished and will post it next Wednesday or Thursday...maybe, I don't really like it that much so I'll probably get hit by some other pjo character unless someone wants me to do their character. Sorry for any errors and if you hated it orz. Shout out to the Truth from fma brotherhood. oh and your supposed to say disclaimer right? I own nothing except my broken sad attempt of cuban slang orz. Im actually pleased at this one and hope you like it.


	4. Percy attracts the strangest persons

A/N: I hope you all like'd Gabe's tale. His story was a little too serious so I went light on Percy's because of that and because I don't really think percy had a sucky life. Gabe never beated him, he had food, clothes, went to school and had a loving mom. Sure Poseidon never paid for child support But percy's life wasn't that bad (i also didn't have enough inspiration to write him a nice tragic story). I'm also sorry for failing in channeling Percy's 'voice' because to write in Percy's p.o.v you have to be witty and God did not bless me with that ability orz. I've only been to New York once and that was like for barely an hour but a random guy offered to take a picture of me and my family and didn't run away with the camera after he got it so they seem nice enough.

Stupid, smelly, useless Gabe! I can't believe he just ditched me, left me out here in the cold to enter a small,purple, plain building. I was supposed to go to the barber shop but my mom couldn't take me she had to work so Gabe to my horror selflessly volunteered. I've been standing outside for more than 20 minutes and it went from chilly to full-out blizzard by now and my thin cheap pink sweater was losing the battle of keeping me warm. The door opened – finally! A drunken man happily waved goodbye but it wasn't Gabe.

I was really disgusted and furious, and barreled through the knee-deep dirty snow to the bus stop, growling about how I hoped he died of too much alcohol consumption. I was shaking badly when I reached the bus stop sign mostly because of the melted snow on my clothes and because of how angry I was. I sat on the cold bench with vigor only to yelp but I refused to show weakness by getting up. Stupid Gabe this is his entire fault. Some people walked by glancing down at me only to keep on walking or wait for the bus a few feet away and ignore me. New Yorker's are all about chivalry and helping out freezing 10-year-old boys. I really hated the world right now and dreaded turning into a Popsicle.

Let me tell you I've seen some plenty of weird stuff here in New York but this was bordering insanity. A young beautiful girl wearing a 'I love Crayon man Is lands' wherever that is or maybe it was a singing group shirt, and summer shorts, jogged up to me carrying a duffel bag and sat down on the ice-cold metal bench, listening to music on her earphones that had a small owl outline on it without even flinching at the bitter cold. I admired how her startling stormy grey eyes never wavered, solely focused on the bouncing tennis ball and racquet she was holding. I thought maybe she was some crazy tennis player in college. At a closer look it struck me she might be a tourist or something. She had dark brown hair with blond highlights, healthy glowing tan skin, a lean body and a black/red hat with a team logo of a flaming basketball going through a hoop. It occurred to me that I have been gawking at her like a creep while snow piled up on her shoulders. Mom would scold me for not doing anything; I mean she was less covered than I am. Blushing I removed my thin pathetic sweater and shoved it toward her. That action brought her back to earth and the ball stopped, balanced on top of the racket. I stared at my wet converse waiting for her to take it and she stared at me.

"I think you need it more than me." I could feel the smile in her voice and looked up at the sound of a zipper. She put her racket and ball away and then pulled out a blue scarf, a small heavy coat and mitten gloves from her bag, I hesitated. "The cold doesn't really bother me," she said quickly while the wind and snow whipped around us. I must've taken too long to choose because she put the coat on me like it was a blanket and did a clumsy job of wrapping the blue scarf around my neck. She took a step back judging me like I was a museum painting and said "I got to say we're really standing out." And I laughed as she sat down next to me again, closer. Weird, I didn't feel as cold anymore, it was like a protective dome of warmth surrounded us almost like magic.

"Thank you for the clothes Mary Poppins. Are you a tourist from crayon man is land or a fan-girl?" I asked aiming for small talk. She pursed her lips like the question irritated her and I noticed her eyes narrowed when she did, which was really unnerving.

"No, this is a shirt my dear, thoughtful, loving, kind uncle got me at Cayman islands two weeks after my birthday; he mentioned something about us going there and watching me squirm to death hoping a stingray would kill me. I'm here on business and I guess the word wanderer suits me better." Did she say stingray and island? That sounded like fun; her uncle sounded like a real funny person and I wanted to ask more but she beat me in asking the next question. "Where are your parents, New York isn't exactly the safest place on earth."

I huffed out cold fogging air, "my step father was supposed to take me to get my hair trimmed but he hasn't left that building so I'm going to take myself." It slipped my mind that I was talking to a stranger and she was an adult who knew kids shouldn't be outside traveling in the city alone. Her grey eyes followed to where I had pointed and widened slightly at the building like she recognized it and then she sighed like she was disappointed. "Do you know where the place is, the stop?" I told her where it was located and when she asked me what my mom's phone number was; I told her our homes phone. She shrugged like that's good enough for me.

"I know a thing or two about inattentive parents; it helped me develop independence." She did look like a person that could take care of herself. She glanced to where the bus was supposed to come but the snow still came twirling down but I didn't feel cold at all. "The bus is going to take a while." She took out a sticky note and had me write to Gabe where I had gone. I wrote 'left to Jupiter to have all the hair in my body shaved off you useless tool!' She laughed and said she could abduct me right now and nobody would now until hours later. I told her I would reach down into her magical bag and pull out a hockey stick at her. We watched Tom and Jerry in her electronic device that I've never seen before (she said she got it in japan where they were a bit ahead in technology than America).

The bus arrived ten minutes later and ugly Gabe was still inside. I shrugged whatever and the woman paid for me. We sat across from each other and the drunken man from earlier stepped inside the bus. He surveyed the rows of seats when he spotted the vacant chair next to me. I cringed as he neared, he reeked. He grinned at me but tennis girl came to my rescue. She bumped him in the shoulder as she went to occupy the seat next to me.

"Hey" said the man who could pass for Gabe's cousins. He said hi to her chest first before looking up to her eyes and I swear he almost died right there. Can't blame him for almost dropping bricks on his pants because the color drained from my face too; tennis girl shot him the darkest glare I've ever seen. Her eyes were cold, hard and made you feel like she was planning your demise. Then, she did the cruelest thing ever, she smiled. It was like staring at the angel of death. It worked extremely well the man looked down at his feet and said sorry before claiming a seat far away from us. Athena sat down next to me.

"I can take of myself." I said slightly scared of her; she wasn't paying attention.

"I despise people who can have such perverted thoughts towards children." she growled to herself and I got the feeling she didn't realize she was thinking aloud.

"Children? Who are you calling a kid, your only like 10 years older." I said not really understanding the innuendo. " Do you have magical powers that let you read someones thoughts?" I asked joking. The woman smiled darkly.

" I may look young but I've seen a lot of bad things in this world and done some pretty gruesome stuff myself. Lets just say I've become good at reading people." She said mysteriously but also warning me not to trust her, but I could tell she was a decent person.

We talked about trivial things after that and she gave me advice on how to do better in school. We also got in a heated debate about who was better the new York basketball team or the Miami heat which was a stupid name in my opinion. The ride ended to quickly for my taste; I waved before exiting the bus and she waved goodbye from her seat. An odd nice day between to strangers.

-two years later or whatever on Olympus after the lightning bolt was returned-

Athena was glaring off at nothing and Nike poked her ribs causing Athena to jump.

"Huh? You said something?"

"I was asking what are you thinking about." Nike repeated.

"Oh, the sea prick's bastard. Percy, he seems familiar..."

"Maybe because he looks like your uncle." Nike said smiling.

"Please don't call him my uncle... and a lot of people are descended from Poseidon in the Caribbean so I guess..." Athena shrugged deciding to let it go.

"Annabeth did well." Nike said changing the subject.

"She did. I am very proud of her, she'll become a great person one day the fates told me so." Athena bragged. Nike raised an eyebrow curious.

"Oh, like your son's Georgey and Woody great or in a smaller scale like Daedalus and Leonardo?" Nike asked.

"I don't think Annabeth plans on becoming the first female president." Athena said, her grey eyes soft with amusement. "She'll probably be great in a smaller scale. Only time will tell." Just as she finished saying that she looked down from the clouds and saw some mortals playing tennis.

"Wanna have a match? I promise to go easy on you?" Nike taunted.

" By all means don't hold back on my account. Your going to need it before I wipe the floor with you." Athena said taking up the challenge. It wasn't until the last game when Nike hit the ball back that Athena remembered.

"Oh, duck." she said while the ball whipped by her and left a scorching black mark on the floor.

A/N: I was going to post it on Wednesday but, its my steps dad b-day and I feel pretty merry. Hope you liked it even though I don't think it came out that good orz. In history class we were learning about WW1 and Woodrow Wilson kept coming off as a child of Athena to me and Leonardo da Vinci has a lot of Athena qualities too, he was an artist and an inventor. 0.0 There are so many multi-talented people in history and I'm just here like. =_= I saw that someone from Cayman island read one of my stories and my reaction was like where's that? I googled it and omg it's so tiny I had no idea England still had territories and the beaches remind me of a trip I took in Honduras Island called Roatan. The beaches were so beautiful and clear and void of seaweed (unlike all the beaches I've gone in Florida) and where I even went zip-lining. Sup to everyone in Crayon islands and Honduras and everywhere I don't have the money to travel to.

Please review cause I'm out of ideas on who to do next and if you liked it. I don't want to update unless I know it's a decent story for whoever is reading :( I should really make Athena a more serious character dang it! Behold Athena the queen of disguises and leader of college parties! Encouragement makes me happy :) Percy why you hating my team XD


	5. Burden (Piper's story)

A/N: Piper so demanding XD I hope you it, this is Pipers story, enjoy.

Athena hated hospitals; the hidden germs, the scuffling of the nurses, the dull clean walls and that the hospitals existence bluntly drew the line of the harsh unfairness between her and mortals. She didn't know how long she'd been standing outside the door but she was a goddess and had literally all the time in the world, her son however did not his life thread was about to be cut. He had lived to old age and had suffered a stroke yesterday. It was so strange every time something like this happened; she didn't know whether to go in and congratulate him on surviving this long or not. She wanted to go inside but had no idea what to say. Her son was dying while she was frozen in time and space, never aging, never changing, an immortal energy with a personality. You think you would get used to having an ancient wound constantly reopening but what mother would ever get used to watching her kids and grandkids continuously dying before her. She stayed outside in her own personal bubble of gloom; so distracted contemplating that she didn't realize the little girl with chocolate hair and brown skin in front of her.

"Hey!" the little girl shouted. She wore a pretty blue dress but her most distinctive feature were her eyes. Athena thought to herself that you were not supposed to be that beautiful at a young age. Athena concluded that the little girl must be Aphrodite's or some other beautiful gods child. "I'm Piper." A flowery pink aura radiated of this girl and Piper must have felt it too because her face matched Athena's annoyed expression at being hit with the bright radiation. Dark gloom clashed with sweet pink.

"Hi, you really shouldn't be giving strangers your name." Athena responded looking both ways but saw no parent.

"What's wrong?" The little brown skin girl asked concerned.

"I'm sorry where are your parents?" Athena avoided answering the little models question.

"Stalling." The little girl said peeved. "grandpa said that dad was scared and that you avoid things that scare you, that's why daddy told me to go inside and he would go buy some soda but he hasn't come back yet. I don't understand what dad is so scared of grandpa just has a very bad cold that makes him cough a lot."

"Your grandfather is very wise." Athena said.

"We noticed you standing here and he said you were scared too and I should go talk to you." The little girl explained and before Athena could declare that the goddess of war was not afraid of anything, the girl chirped away.

"Who are you afraid of seeing?" she asked and Athena imagined a future where this girl was a psychologist that could unravel anyone.

"… My son I suppose. I didn't help him as much as a good normal parent would have. I guess I'm afraid he might not want to see me." She admitted abashed. Piper shook her head as in disappointed and Athena felt very silly being scolded by a child.

"Whatever happened between the two of you, I think he would want company if he's sick, I know I would. So you forgot his birthday once or forced him to eat his broccoli, this is your chance to make up." Athena couldn't believe how dead serious the girl sounded.

"Piper who- I'm sorry Ms. has my daughter been bothering you?" A handsome Cherokee man approached them holding a Pepsi and a hot coffee; he looked like he hadn't slept for days.

"Oh, no your daughter was actually giving me some helpful advice." A loud strained cough came from Piper's grandfather room. "Is he okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, he'll be okay. Strong as a bull my old man, never could be kept down for long." He didn't ask about why she was here I mean it's a hospital and also because her haunted look was darker than his and it made him feel like he should be cautious. Her penetrating dark grey eyes almost made her look unhuman. He mentally shook himself and decided to lighten his coffee consumption.

"Well…" Piper said in an impatient tone. "Go see your son." Piper was going to be a very pushy mother, Athena could just feel it.

"Your son huh." He gave Athena a sad nod and gave Piper her soda before putting his hand on Pipers shoulder in a loving protective manner. Athena turned toward the door sickened. Athena hesitated when reaching for the door knob. Piper took it upon herself to open the door for her and nudged Athena inside.

"Piper." Tristan scolded her but all Piper did was give Athena a thumbs up and good luck before Tristan gave her privacy, quietly shutting the door behind her.

"Is that you mom?" her son croaked.

"Yeah."

"I was wondering how long you were going to stay outside brooding."

"I'm sorry for not entering earlier; a little girl had to help me work up the nerve to come in."

She grabbed a chair and pulled it close to the bed and sat. She wasn't comfortable and she wringed her hands and kept twitching like an ADHD demigod. Her son offered her, his wrinkly hand and that steadied Athena; anchored her. She clasped his tired hand within her own transferring warmth you would feel in a nice spring day. He smiled at her and they spent his last hours speaking, ignoring the beeping machines. It was like a child coming back home from school or a friend's house and telling his mother all the days adventures. Athena smiled, listening as he told her the places he'd been, the people he met and the things he accomplished. She knew all of this; she had kept an eye on him throughout his life and knew him for being a mischievous, bold, adventures hero. Not to mention extremely sly. Then she read him his favorite book until his eyes fluttered close and Thanatos came to take him to the other side. Before Thanatos departed with him she gave her sons' soul a chaste kiss.

Hephaestus wasn't good at interacting with anything living and organic, Ares wasn't good at being peaceful, hades at trusting, Hera at forgiving and Zeus at having his authority questioned. Athena wasn't good at showing affection or taking other people's feelings and her own to consideration, they all had their flaws and they would forever be chained to those flaws. It grieved Athena that they were not perfect and benevolent, that their action would not beget consequences not to themselves but affect humanity and their offspring's. That they would never learn and grow from their errors but remain as they always have been; Immutable and immortal.

"You think they'll be okay?" Piper asked Tristan. He confidently nodded his head.

"Of course sweet heart, she looked like a fighter. Like you and grandpa." He assured her.

"And you." Piper added and Tristan reluctantly nodded. "I think grandpa is waiting for us." She said softly.

"Yeah, let's not keep him waiting." He tried to keep his voice neutral. She held his hand and gave him the strength to enter the chamber of a dying man.

A/N: hope you liked it! Sorry for any errors :( Review please. I need to finish my other stories orz. Piper's grandpa has lung cancer for any of you wondering.


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